Spared jail: Radu Cristea (pictured today) was preparing to fly an Airbus 318 from London Heathrow to Bucharest

A Romanian aerial acrobatics champion who performed alongside the Red Arrows turned up to pilot a passenger jet almost two and a half times over the drink-fly limit, a court heard today.

Radu Cristea, 38, was preparing to fly an Airbus 318 from London Heathrow to Bucharest when security officers at one of the boarding gates smelt alcohol on his breath.

He called the police, who tested experienced pilot and father-of-two Cristea in his cockpit just half an hour before his plane was due to take off with 30 passengers in February.

The breathalyser test came back positive for alcohol and the captain, who had drunk three large glasses of wine the night before and had just five hours sleep, was arrested.

He was almost two and a half times over the legal flying limit as he had 49mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood, Isleworth Crown Court heard today. The limit is 20mg per 100ml of blood. The limit for driving is 80mg per 100ml.

But Judge Jonathan Lowen decided not to send Cristea to prison today after hearing he would lose his job if he was jailed. Instead he handed him a three-month suspended sentence.

When questioned by police, Cristea told officers that the night before he was due to captain the three-hour Tarom flight he drank three large glasses of wine before going to bed and had ‘no idea’ he was unfit to fly.

Neil Fitzgibbon, defending, said: ‘He had three large glasses of red wine and did not have a meal before going to bed at 12.30am. When he arrived at the airport for 6am he had no idea he would be over the flight limit. He thought drinking three glasses of wine the night before was wholly acceptable.

‘He thinks his failure to have a meal may have been the contributing factor. He takes safety in the air as a critical factor, something that cannot be understated. For his to have fallen below his usually high standards is a devastating blow.’

Hearing: Isleworth Crown Court (pictured) was told how Cristea, a Romanian aerial acrobatics champion, was two and a half times over the legal flying limit as he had 49mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood

Cristea was a very experienced and
competent pilot who had been flying since he was 16 and held an
‘unblemished’ record, Isleworth Crown Court heard.

After being crowned the Romanian
Flying Acrobatic Champion, he flew with the Red Arrows as part of the
Hawks of Romania flying team in the UK. He joined the state-run Romanian airline Tarom in 2008.

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‘Mr Cristea has been flying all his
adult life,’ Mr Fitzgibbons told the court. ‘He began when he was 16,
eventually becoming the Romanian Flying Acrobatic Champion.

‘He was a gliding instructor for 12
years and trained hundreds of other glider pilots. After that he moved
over to a commercial flying career. His whole world revolves around
flying.

‘He has flown many thousands of hours
and has performed all over the world. He has performed with the Red
Arrows previously as part of the Hawks of Romania. He is highly regarded and has a wholly unblemished career.’

In the air: File photo of a Tarom plane. The state-run Romanian airline was forced to cancel the flight in question

After the incident Cristea, who lives
just outside Bucharest with his wife and two young daughters, aged 12
and three, was suspended without pay and employers said he would lose
his job if he was sent to prison.

'Mr Cristea has been flying all his adult life. He began when he was 16, eventually becoming the Romanian Flying Acrobatic Champion. He is a broken man. He lost his father very recently'

Neil Fitzgibbon, defending

Mr Adams told the court: ‘He is a
broken man. He lost his father very recently, on March 10. Now he faces
the prospect of losing his liberty.

‘If he does lose his job he will lose
his job and his daughters will have to leave their school. His referees,
all senior members of the Romanian Aviation Authority, say to lose such
a competent, experienced pilot would be tragic.’

Cristea pleaded guilty who pleaded guilty to bring drunk in charge if an aircraft at an earlier hearing.

Handing him a three-month suspended
sentence, Judge Lowen said: ‘I will put your mind at rest, I do not
intend to pass a sentence which you will have to serve today.

‘The referees I have seen show you to
be a man of the highest airline pilot experience. You could not be more
highly qualified. You have been flying since you were 16.

Airport: Cristea was due to take off from Heathrow when security officers smelt alcohol on him (file picture)

'You trained others as a gliding instructor and worked as a captain on commercial flights.

‘It’s against that background that it
is a huge surprise to me and a huge disappointment to yourself that you
have found yourself before the court.

'Every single passenger on that flight and their families put their safety in your hands. It’s a huge concern when a captain tries to board an aircraft with a blood alcohol reading as high as yours'

Judge Jonathan Lowen

‘Every single passenger on that flight
and their families put their safety in your hands. It’s a huge concern
when a captain tries to board an aircraft with a blood alcohol reading
as high as yours.

‘You had three glasses of wine the night before but had not eaten. You thought that was OK, but it was not. I accept you had no symptoms of
impairment but I regard this has the potential of being hugely serious.

'I
am told you will not lose your job and can fly again if you do not go
to prison. So I sentence you to three months in
prison, which you will not have to serve if you do not commit an offence
in a period of one year.’

Cristea was ordered to pay £300 in costs and a victim surcharge of £80.